1982 Morris Marina 575

I once bought a Marina van which I was intending to rebuild with Marina car running gear. Various earthquakes scuppered the operation for several years, and by
the time I was able to proceed, there was much more grief to contend with.

2015. I spotted another Marina van on NZ's Trademe. It was in Napier but looked pretty sound for $2000. I bought it, flew up and drove it home. The engine had a
leaking head gasket - but I figured it was only a stop-gap measure after all, so just nursed it home. It also consumed oil rather rapidly - no worries. Oil is cheap.

Almost simultaneously, I was offered an unfinished race car project - a Marina Coupe with an expensive MGB race engine also unfinished. I bought this and sold the
beautifully prepared body to my friend who was wanting to put a Rover V8 in it. We halved the very reasonable purchase price - he got the body and I got the engine and
gearbox. I planned to fit these into my new van.

I removed the suspension from the van and fitted a complete setup from a Mk3 saloon - front disc's, rear axle and propshaft. This also changes the stud pattern, so I
fitted a set of widened Triumph Spitfire steel rims and a pair of much softer 2-leaf rear springs. The ride was now sublime.

I began fitting sound deadening and insulating material in the back of the van, as I would also be fitting similar in the front as I changed to car dashboard and
wiring loom. The heater would also need changing, and while all of these things were removed it would give me an opportunity to repaint the engine bay. This would
mean the van would be off the road for some time, and I had already begun using it for my work - a role for which it immediately proved immenseley suitable. However
- it finally blew its head gasket - so matters came to a head rather suddenly. I was now in a quandry. The new race engine was still proving to be an enigma as far as
what bits were in it, and how I should set it up. I began to consider swapping an engine/transmission from one of my other Marinas in order to get this extremely useful
vehicle back on the road.